Reolus Noakes's page

Reolus was born in Varisia, where he was born exactly few could say, himself included. His parents were honorary members of a varisian caravan. As such he along with his twin brother and fraternal sister were born on the road, all at once in fact. Being the middle child of triplets. They spent their first year constantly moving and being cradled by a moving wagon more often then not. Both parents were traders and merchants that ran the many caravan trails of Varisia, always in the company of it's local and native people. This was the life Reolus knew and lived for many years. Growing up he got involved with the Sczarni, learning their ways and con's. Being a non varisian and easily overlooked made him ideal for spying and scouting for them. Soon enough his parents found out and put a stop to it. Thinking it was time for Reolus and their family in general to have a more stable environment they chose to settle down in Sandpoint. The family bought a small, for humans, home and shortly after sent their children to Turandarok Academy. It was their that Reolus came across Brodert Quink the scholar, he had come to speak to the children of history. While most weren't interested or only enough for their studies, Reolus was entranced by Varisia's past. Outside the academy he would visit Brodert to learn more of the land's past, striking a friendship of sorts with the sage.

Years passed and Reolus grew less wild and more settled. That all changed one day when he started helping his father in his trading. They were getting ready to leave before dawn when he noticed some of the goods were gone. He knew he had already packed them on the wagon to join the caravan for Magnimar. He dived below the wagon to see if they fell, that's when he saw a pair of large feet come around. They quietly stayed near the wagon for a moment before leaving, slower then before as if they carried something now. Reolus followed them from under the wagon and down an alley. Sure enough it was a varisian taking some goods, the rest that were missing were in a pile near by under a blanket. The varisian added the new goods with the old and went down another alley. Reolus quickly started taking back their goods, making a few trips. On the last trip he was found out by a pair of guards. As he was being charged for minor theft and drawing more guards, his father came upon the scene. Everything was sorted out as the goods did belong to them in the first place. Only Reolus lied about following anyone to the goods, saying that he had noticed them missing and was looking for them near by. He knew the varisian was likely a Sczarni, he wanted no part of them if he could avoid it.

On the road to Magnimar his father confronted him about his lie, the elder Noakes didn't miss a trick. He told him the truth, his father said he would deal with the Sczarni when they got to Magnimar. The Sczarni families did not all get along but they did have a way to contact each other and certain ways. Reolus did not think that was a good idea, in fact he didn't want his father to have anything to do with them if it could be helped. Once they reached Magnimar and before any business could be done, Reolus disappeared into the city leaving nothing but a short note.

Reolus went himself to deal with Jaster Frallino, the leader of the Gallowed. The largest and most powerful Sczarni family in Magnimar. In exchange for his word to protect his family he would pay him an agreed upon amount of gold. Jaster thinking nothing of a little halfling offering him money agreed, not expecting to keeping up his end of the bargain. A month later having almost forgotten the foolish halfling, Reolus returned with the payment in hand. Taken off guard he accepted and when Reolus left he sent his men to make good on his word, he had to retain a good earner after all.

Reolus spent the next few years as a thief. But instead of a common cutpurse or pickpocket, he reserved his skills for more profitable jobs. He crept into manors, shops, and even ships under cover of darkness and stole valuable but small objects. One day after casing a place for a future job he came across his twin brother on the street by chance. He turned an ran but came to a dead stop as magic of some sort held him. His brother then drags him back to the church of Abadar of all places. It seemed his brother had taken to the faith of the master of the first vault. Going so far as to become a priest, he demanded to know where Reolus had been and the full story as to why he left. Reolus told him so and his brother said he would see that the church would remedy the situation. In return he was to return to Sandpoint and their father, he was also not to steal anymore. If he was found stealing, even as his brother he would make sure that he paid the full price for his crime.

While he had reservations about his brother, he knew better then to question the church of Abadar in Magnimar. He went back to Sandpoint and intended to no longer steal. When he finally made it home, he got the scolding of his life from his parents. While they forgave him, more then once they brought up the matter to be used against him. As for himself, he had trouble finding anything to do in Sandpoint. His skills were not suited to honest living and so he lived off his remaining ill gotten gains for some time. He did manage to find the odd job with the local locksmith testing his stock. Yet he spent most of his time with Brodert, listening to his tales of the ancient past and modern ruins. It was this that hooked his attention, his skills could be applied to exploring ruins. Any valuables would be salvage after all not theft, so he took to exploring the local ruins for anything of value.

While he was not especially successful, he did find enough odds and ends to get by.

Birthmark: Reolus has a birthmark of a butterfly of all things on his forearm. He used to cover it up as a child to avoid being made fun of. As he grew older and came to worship Desna he made a point to leave it exposed. Unless he is "on the job" in which case he knows it's a pretty good identifier, so he keeps it covered up. This is more then practical as he feels Desna would not overly approve of theft even for the best of causes. These days he keeps it exposed, which actually gets him some good attention in Sandpoint. Sense he considers tomb raiding salvaging not theft he does not cover it up when doing so ether.

Good Dreams: While a halfling's luck is not mere superstition, more often then not it's less then what people think. Reolus was never one to rely on luck, not just as a matter of course but also as a way not to use his goddess as a crutch. As he found that to be insincere. Still even he would admit that his luck is a little stranger then most. Not a night goes by where he does not dream of some danger he will face. Then sure enough he finds himself in danger more times then not, gaining an edge by that same dream.